After a stroke leaves her husband mentally disabled and fundamentally changed, spirited Irish housewife Vanetia struggles to keep her family together in the wake of tragedy. A research grant from American doctor Ted Fielding, interested in documenting the family’s recovery process, allows them to get by. Though Vanetia initially resents living under Ted’s microscope, she soon finds comfort in his calming presence, while Ted responds to Vanetia’s dynamic, unpredictable personality. As the two explore their bond within their unique situation, a new family begins to emerge.

Directed by Academy Award-nominee Steph Green and featuring Saturday Night Live star Will Forte in an impressive dramatic debut, this life-affirming film embraces the healing power of love and family in all of its idiosyncratic forms. Run and Jump is an unexpected, unconventional romance, intimate family portrait and emotional journey of recovery that ultimately uplifts through its heartfelt message of human connection and the power of acceptance. - Cara Cusumano / Tribeca Film Festival 2013

Wednesday October 8 – Coda + The Golden Dream
On Wednesday October 8, we'll also be running a short, Coda, followed by the full-feature film: The Golden Dream.

Directed by Alan Holly, CODA is the culmination of two years of painstaking work by a small team of animation artists. The film tells the story of a lost soul who stumbles drunkenly through the city. In a park, death finds him and shows him many things.

This nine-minute, hand-drawn animated film is voiced by Brian Gleeson (Standby, The Stag, Love/Hate) and Orla Fitzgerald (The Wind that Shakes the Barley).

Winner: Best Animated Short Film at the South by SouthWest (SXSW) film festival in Austin, Texas

In order to escape from the squalid barrio in which they live, young Guatemalan teens Juan, Sara and Samuel make the decision to attempt the 1,200 mile-long arduous border crossing into “The Golden Cage”, i.e. USA, via Mexico in search of a better life. In order to blend in with the group and protect herself from the harm a woman can suffer on the journey, Sara initially disguises herself as a boy named Oswaldo.

Not long after their departure, the group encounter Chauk, an Tzotzil Indian who speaks virtually no Spanish. Despite Juan’s fervent and passionate opposition, Sara insists they allow Chauk to join the gang. A harsh road follows as the four children show inspiring bravery in the face of relentless danger and obstacles, both natural and manmade. All the while, they risk arrest, deportation and death. From the first frame to the last hopeless moment, this is a heart-wrenching story of hope, friendship, survival, love and desperation, and a profound homage to the treacherous journey thousands of immigrants undertake each year. - Spanish Film Festival 2013

Kristin Scott Thomas plays Lucie, the downtrodden wife of terminally grumpy surgeon Paul (played by Daniel Auteuil), who maintains a sleekly modern forest home. Paul seems bored and distracted, but we come to learn that he has been receiving red flowers from a woman who wants to thank him for some surgery he claims not to have performed.

Before the Winter Chill is the second collaboration between director and writer Philippe Claudel and England’s greatest gift to French cinema, Kristin Scott Thomas. Their first film together was I’ve Loved You So Long, which became one of the most talked about film of 2008. This is another sublime, elegant slow-burner, and looks all set to repeat that success. - 20th Bradford International Film Festival 2013

Juliette Binoche plays Rebecca, a war photographer who constantly risks harm just to capture the perfect shot. It's a passion that's earned her many awards, but one that also leaves her family in constant fear. During a trip to Afghanistan, Rebecca is injured while accompanying a female suicide bomber to Kabul. When she returns home to Ireland, her husband makes it clear that he's fed up. With regret, Rebecca retires her camera and decides to focus her energy on her family. Her oldest daughter Steph begins to show an interest in humanitarian work after doing a project for school. One of Rebecca's connections offers her an opportunity to take Steph to Kenya to visit a refugee camp. Under the assurance that the trip will be safe, her husband agrees to let them go. When the camp is attacked, Rebecca's priorities will once again be tested. Will her desire to document tragedy come before her safety and her daughter’s? Binoche is absolutely superb as a highly conflicted, work-obsessed photojournalist. - Cleveland Film Festival 2014

Colin lives a truly charmed life. A helpful mouse works around his house and he has invented a Pianocktail, an instrument that makes cocktails based on what you play. However, his friends Chick and Nicolas have found love. This is the one thing that has eluded Colin. One night, at a dog's birthday party, he is introduced to Chloe. They fall in love and are happily married. But Chloe develops strange music in her lung that quickly turns into a water lily. Is their happy life about to shatter? Odd, you say? Nothing is odd in Michel Gondry's wonderful fantasy, where people and rooms change shape to suit their needs and time and space have no rules or boundaries. MOOD INDIGO is a world unto itself, where doorbells are living things and the Church only marries the winners of an insane go-cart race. This exhilarating cinematic toy box crams each frame with visual treats and delightful tricks. Once this film drops you down its romantic rabbit-hole, reality happily vanishes! - Cleveland International Film Festival 2014